Componentes técnicos del geoportal

The account which fellow s describes and discusses the events o f this period, but it should also be read as containing within i t ar. account o f the methedclogical developer,ent which took place as the work progressed. In simple tenr.s I started the work with cnly minimal contacts and liv in g in another town, and ended i t liv in g in the same town with a large number o f contacts (and, not in cidentally, frien d s). Therefore the development o f th eo retica l understanding runs in p ara llel with the progression from a narrowly defined, and largely instrumental, approach to the fieldwork to a more broadly based involvement with a corresponding increase in information and insight.

1. Access

In one sense gaining access tc a Women's Centre is easy, since it s rubric always acknowledges the importance o f being open tc a ll woffien. In pra~tiee, o f course, real access tc centres c f influence and decision making is negotiated more slowly in a process involving the development o f trust and 1egitim ation. At several prints in the course o f the work I found i t necessary tc make decisions which had the e ffe c t o f increasing try involvement in the cn-going a c t iv it ie s .

Failure tc dc so would, 1 f e l t , have severely reduced the value c f the work and could even have made i t impossible tc continue. 1 attempted to be as open as possible about what I was doing and nc one I spoke to

144 was antagonistic tc the idea o f the research, although some irild

apprehension was expressed. In general I was pleasantly surprised to find how receptive people were to the idea, but i t was alsc net long before I realised there was only limited tolerance fo r the 'f l y on the w a ll' approach; 1 had to allow myself tc be drawn into the situation.

By October 1961 J i l l had decided tc leave her job and go tc u n iversity. While this was obviously a personal decision she also saw i t as important in terms o f the Centre's future.

I t was fo r my reasons that I l e f t , but I think i t was good anyway. When I went there there were sc many people around who had this expectation that I would be

(my predecessor), and I wasn't going to be her, but neither could I break away and be anything much else. I t needed somebody tc s i t back and say, 'I'm net dcing th a t', befere anybody else cculd come in and say, 'I'm somebody d iffe r e n t'.

Ihe 'somebody d iffe r e n t' who took up the job was Ruth, who had been working in a women's refuge, but before that was a member c f the Women's Aid group which had been part c f the Konday afternoon meetings.

2. Getting In

I had been aware o f the publicity which accompanied the opening o f the Women's Centre in W hitefield in the summer o f 1961, ar.d had ncted i t as a potential location fo r fieldwork. At that time I had nc

contact with anyone who was involved in the endeavour. In Cctcber o f that year I met two women who were working in the Centre at a party ar.d introduced myself tc than. I told them I was doing research on Women's Centres and that I was interested in the p o s s ib ility o f W hitefield as cne o f my main locations. One o f them told me that i t had net been going fo r long and that there were lots o f problems. When I asked,

'Wnat sort's' she said I would soon see i f I turned up. The ether woman was mere forthcoming and was enthusiastic about the idea o f the research. She told me that there were a number of women's groups in W hitefield but that in her view they were middle class and f a ir ly hard

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to penetrate, in that they were not publicised and that in order to get in i t was necessary to know the righ t people. She f e l t that they were not r e a lly available fo r 'ordinary' women — implying women lik e h erse lf.

elitism Her view o f the Women's Centre was s im ila rly that i t was overlaid; with/

in that i t was not f e l t to be a very welcoming place, and that women seemed to fe e l they had to have 'a problem' to come in. Whether these were her views, or onffiwhich she knew existed, was not clear since 3he was one o f the women who worked on the ro ta . She described one o f the

d iffic u lt ie s she did f e e l in this respects 'Perhaps when i t ' s your turn on the rota you don't fe e l lik e being very welcoming, but people should be brought in and given a cup o f c o f f e e '. I said that I 'd lik e to talk to more women and she in vited me to come to the admin meeting next week - 'Y o u 'll fin d i t very borin g'.

My notes from the f i r s t few meetings I attended clea rly show that I was fa r too busy tryin g to work out what was going on to find them boring. I was working in ten sively in an attempt to record the a c tiv itie s and interactions o f the people present, to figure out who people were (and my notes record a number o f sometimes inaccurate

guesses as to who were 's t a f f ' ) , and to become aware o f the preoccupying issues, at the same time as being conscious o f my own presentation and imputs into the meeting. To begin with I made notes in the meetings but I became aware from the glances I was gettin g that this was making others (and m yself) uncomfortable. I soon found that with a l i t t l e practice, and the help o f a few 'key words', I could produce an adequately f u ll account o f the meetings I attended, i f I recorded than soon afterwards.

At the f ir s t meeting I used two conversational openings as a way o f introducing myself into the discussion. The f i r s t o f these was a small piece about the Centre which had appeared in the Guardian the previous week, and the second the fact that I had been working in

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Greystcne Women'? Centre, end could therefore draw cn that experience where it seemed pertinent. What I did net do, in spite o f the information from my informant at the party, was to in ary way present myself as a woman with a 'problem'. 1he a r t i c l e in the Guardian

(which was only a few lin es long) had caused some embarrassment to the two women whore names appeared with i t . They had written a long le tte r about s ettin g up a self-h elp group fo r mothers o f three-year elds but, as it was described tc me, 'The le t t e r had been subbed cut c f a ll recognition, sc that i t appeared as i f the Women's Centre was these two women. Fecple were wondering what had been g~inr on '. In this conversation, and in general throughout the meeting I was impressed by the frien d ly and relaxed way in which i t was conducted. Even though there were some contentious issues most o f the women present spoke at some p»int, and were listen ed to. Those who arrived la te were quietly told o f the items on the agenda and given a b r ie f resume o f the

discussion so fa r.

The issues which the meeting considered can be located at three organisational le v e ls ; within the Centre, within the P roject, and in relation tc agencies outside the P roject. Within the Centre the main ferm o f communication between the d iffe re n t rcta workers was through the day-book. This was supposed to contain a f u ll enough record c f events and people fo r one worker tc pick up where another had le f t o ff , and this, it seemed, had not been dene. 'There 's toe much going cn which is net c le a r .' The problem within the Project centred arcund the reallocation c f rooms in the building. This discussion took up a le t c f time in subsequent meetings, but cn this occasion the pressing nature c f the threats from the local Council assumed a p r io r ity . It had beer, known fo r some time that the Council war intending tc demolish

the building and turn the s ite into a car park, and on this issue the feelin g was that i t was possible to figh t by mounting a campaign.

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Greystcne Women's Centre , and could t h e r e f o r e draw cn th a t experience where i t seemed p e r t i n e n t . What I did net do, in s p i t e o f the in form ation from my informant at the party, was to in a ry way present m y s e lf as a woman w ith a 'p r o b le m '. The a r t i c l e in the Guardian

(which was o n ly a few l i n e s lo n g ) had caused some embarrassment to the twe women who e names appeared with i t . They had w r i t t e n a long l e t t e r about s e t t i n g up a s e l f - h e l p group f o r mothers o f t h r e e - y e a r elds but, as i t was d e s c rib e d tc me, 'The l e t t e r had been subbed cut o f a l l r e c o g n it io n , so that i t appeared as i f the Women's Centre was these two

women. Fecple were wondering what had been g^ing o n ' . In th is

conv ersa tio n , and in ge n era l throughout the meeting I was impressed by the f r i e n d l y and r e la x e d way in which i t was conducted. Even though th e re were some co nten tiou s issues most o f the women presen t spoke at some p o in t, and were l i s t e n e d t o . lhcG e who a r r i v e d l a t e were q u i e t l y t o l d o f the items on the agenda and g iv e n a b r i e f resume o f the

discussion so f a r .

The issues which the meeting considered can be lo c a t e d a t three o r g a n is a t io n a l l e v e l s ; w it h in the Centre, w ith in the P r o j e c t , and in r e l a t i o n tc a g e n c ie s o u t s id e the P r o j e c t . Within the Centre the main form o f communication between the d i f f e r e n t rota workers was through the day-book. This was supposed to c o n ta in a f u l l enough record o f events and people f o r one worker tc p ic k up where another had l e f t o f f , and t h i s , i t seeped, had not been dene. 'T h e r e 's toe much going cn which is not c l e a r . ' The problem w it h in the P r o j e c t cen tred around the r e a l l o c a t i o n o f rooms i n the b u ild in g . This d is c u s s io n took up a l e t o f time in subsequent meetings, but cn t h is o cca sio n the pressin g nature o f the t h r e a t s from the lo c a l Council assumed a p r i o r i t y . I t had beer, known f o r some time that the Council was in te n d in g tc demolish

the b u ild in g and turn the s i t e into a c a r park, and on t h i s issue the f e e l i n g was that i t was p o s s ib le to f i g h t by mounting a campaign.

1 4 7

However, a second version o f the Council's- intentions, which had beer, leaked the previous week, was that the building was to be sold tc property developers in a deal involving a lo t o f money. 'There are emergency meetings going on a ll ever the place. '

I f e l t that 1 had arrived in a very eventful period anc, while 1 s t i l l consider this to be true, conversations about the preceeding period together with my subsequent experiences do suggest ar. element o f

' i f i t ' s net one thing, i t 's another'. In ether words, debates, actions and reactions occurred in, and between the three organisational le ve ls outlined in the previous paragraph throughout the period c f study. While I was working tc develop a fa m ilia rity with the particular mixture o f issues, preoccupations and people I had walked in to, I also had tc consider my own impact on the situation. By the end o f the fir s t meeting, although nothing was said d ire c tly , 1 realised there was seme

ccnfusicn as to whether I was tc be seen as a representative c f Greystone, cr as ar. 'ordin ary' woman who wanted tc become involved ir. W h itefield Women's Centre. I decided that in order to avoid scire

's p e c ia l' o r 'ou tsid er' status I would o f f e r to work cn the rota. 5. Becoming Accepted

1 made this o ff e r at the next meeting I attended, and was surprised to find that there was apparently no shortage o f werer who were prepared tc dc th is. There were between two and fiv e names down fer each session which was very much in contrast to my experience ir. Greys tone where there was almost always a shortage o f women prepared tc work on the rota. Again, in relation tc my previous expedience I was

impressed by the relaxed atmosphere, and the fact that there was no talk o f 'commitment', but only ar. in vitation tc 'come in sometimes'. I la t e r learned that the time 1 arrived in the Centre was seer, as being towards the end o f the in it ia l 'honeymoon' phase. C ne wemar. 1 spoke

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tr described this as the tine when i t was 'working properly'. I t was run cn a rota basis and you'd have about ei£ht or possibly ten women going in regularly cn a

sessional basis, and then every Monday afternoon we'd have meetings at which Ruth would sometimes be involved and sometimes not, depending on whether she could pc or net. And that seemed righ t - that the women who were running the Centre would meet once a week and discuss what was happening, where i t would go, what was going to be put on . . .

There was a subsequent drop in the level o f in terest which was

exacerbated by the fact that a number o f women who had been putting a lo t o f time into the Centre got jobs. Whether cr net i t was s t r ic t ly true, i t appeared to Ruth that there was some connection between the timing o f her appointment and this fa llin g o f f o f in terest, which not unnaturally made her fe e l uncomfortable.

By the time I got there i t was fading. I t wasn't just lack o f in te re st, thou^i that was a part c f i t . I mean people got jobs - i t re lie s quite a lo t cn unemployed women. I f e l t very bad about that because i t coincided with me taking the job, and I just thought I 'v e scared everyone away by taking tcc much on myself.